H.R. 1242 — Hire Veterans Act

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “Hire Veterans Act.”

This section establishes a pilot program, to be created by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management not later than 1 year after enactment, to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer them to supervisory or nonsupervisory positions in the Forest Service, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation. It defines “recognized postsecondary credential” by reference to section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, 29 U.S.C. 3102, and defines “veteran” by reference to section 101 of title 38, United States Code. This section directs the Director, not later than 180 days after enactment, to issue guidance on developing individual tests to measure veterans’ strengths and abilities for 22 specified career fields, including firefighting, aviation, ecology, geology, civil engineering, hydrology, land surveying, and finance, budget, and administration. It authorizes the Director, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior as appropriate, to waive any recognized postsecondary credential requirement for a covered position if the Director determines the waiver is necessary. It also requires each participating Federal land management agency to administer the test, develop assessments of relative capacity and fitness, and refer each veteran to the Federal Government’s official employment website. This section further directs the Director, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to develop a method to oversee and manage the employment of veterans in covered positions. It authorizes a Federal land management agency head, after consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment to a vacant covered position if a veteran demonstrates the necessary strengths and abilities through the test. If the veteran does not demonstrate the necessary strengths and abilities, the agency must refer the veteran to an agency recruiter for a training program established under this section and then re-administer the test for reevaluation.